Better People
by Probably Brilliant
Summary: It's not that Cristina, Mer, and I didn't know. It's just that we didn't want to.


We Got Away

He was sitting in the living room, one of Derek's expensive bottles of scotch on his right, staring at his tiny cell phone screen.

"Alex" I called out to him, and he turned his head to face me. I could see just how exhausted he was. Making my way across the living room, I settled on the floor next to him. "What are you doing?" He shoved his phone into my hands.

"Izzie failed." He whispered into the tiny oblivion that stood between us. "She was supposed to be on the other list." I let my head fall on his shoulder.

"George should have too. Even Reid and Charlie should have made it." I replied.

"She should have stayed and fought to pass these tests with us. She should have stayed to keep me from tearing your life apart, to bake the cake for Zola's first birthday, to remind us to go to bed on time, and decorate ridiculously for Christmas. She was supposed to be my wife."

"I know." My response drug me back to the on call room he had used to fertilize eggs for future Izzie and Alex.

"_Do you think…do you think she'll survive all this?" _

I guess I was unaware of what _all this_ really was.

"You know what?" I asked, and felt him shake his head. "She'd of annoyed Cristina out of her funk. She wouldn't have been able to not force you out of ruining my life. She'd have just ripped me to shreds when I gave Zola's cake to the chief, if we went to bed on time none of us would have passed those tests. You and Derek decorate beautifully for Christmas. Marriage means fighting for a relationship every time. She wasn't ready for that."

"Are you saying I'm better off without her?" He feared my answer, I could feel it in the way his voice filled my body.

"No, I'm saying that we are the people we have become because of her, and because of George. And probably even because of Reid and Charlie." I replied.

"Do you think April and Jackson are having as a hard a time as we are?"

"Without their people?" He nodded "Yes, without a doubt. Even if they weren't as close as we are, they are now. April and Reid were best friends. This is just as hard on them." We sat quietly for a long time until Alex's phone rang. I peaked at the caller ID.

_Izzie Stephens _

He handed me his phone.

"You answer it." I punched the touch screen on button and brought the phone to my ear.

"Alex? Hey, I saw you passed your test. Congrats. I..well I didn't do so well. I just miss you. I want to come home." She paused for a sec. "Are you still there?" Alex shook his head no, to my quizzical face.

"Iz?" I asked into the phone.

"Mer?" She replied "I thought I called Alex."

"You did. Iz, I'm really sorry that you failed your test. But you need to hang up the phone, and you need to go back to your life, so we can go back to ours. Alex asked you to leave him alone. I can't handle everything that you come along with. We miss you, and we want to hear from you. But not at three in the morning, because you're sad and you want your old life back. Bye, Iz." I hung up the phone, and handed it back to him.

"Thanks." He mumbled.

"I miss George so much some days." I whispered.

"Me too."

"Really?"

"Yeah, every now and then I get into the "heart in the elevator" elevator and I actually miss him wandering around being a good man, and rising to the top. He'd have been able to talk Clark out of killing all those people. He'd have made a better doctor than me. Robbins would have chosen him as the protégé. "

"That's not true. He would have taken April's place, and been Owen's guy. He always had a thing for Cristina's men." I joked. "I miss him in the tunnels. I sit down there sometimes and wait for him to bring me a snack and remind me that he's always there, and just be George and Meredith." I replied.

"He would have been able to get Yang out of her mess." Alex nodded "He could get anyone to do anything."

"I can't believe he jumped in front of a bus for that random girl."

"He'd have just as quickly done it for someone he hated. George was just a solid guy, always trying to help. He'd have passed his test." Alex decided. We drank the rest of the scotch.

"We turned out pretty good, Alex."

"We really did." Part of me knew that we'd probably never hear from Izzie again. Another part knew that George was proud. I was satisfied by both.


End file.
